March 7, 2018

Needs assemblage treks to Pittsburg

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Three Carson-Newman Track & Field athletes set their sights on Pittsburg, Kan. this weekend, the home of the 2018 Division II Indoor Championships.

This year's championships will take place over a two-day period at the Robert W. Plaster Center on March 9^th and 10^th.

Each athlete has a chance to earn All-American status this weekend as the top-12 in each event garner the national honor. Top-8 grab a first-team selection while nine through 12 are denoted on the second-team.

Devon Moore (Baxley, Ga.), Kieran Showler-Davis (Winchester, England) and Tanner Stepp (Jefferson City, Tenn.) will represent the Eagles across four events.

The freshman Moore is the lone Eagle who will compete in multiple events during next month's indoor national championships.

"It presents a lot of challenges but we are just taught to go out and compete and have fun," Moore mentioned.

Moore posted national qualifying times in the SAC Indoor Championships for the 200 meter and 60 meter dashes. Moore posted a time of 6.78 seconds in the 60 meter finals narrowly being edged by Tusculum's freshman sprinter Widchard Guervil at 6.77 seconds. He was tied 12^th-overall in D2 with the mark, and the second-fastest time as a freshman this year.

In the 200 meter, the freshman missed a first-place finish by fractions of a second. His second-place time of 21.81 came next to Lenoir-Rhyne's P.J. Lotharp's 21.80 seconds. Moore's time was a new career-low to his previous best of 22.05 seconds.

With the time, which is converted to 21.43 seconds because the JDL site in Winston Salem, N.C. is a flat track, Moore has the best time in the nation among freshman sprinters in the 200, ranked 12^th overall. Moore was named Freshman Athlete of the Year by the conference for his performance. 20 athletes will compete in the 200 meter dash.

Kieran Showler-Davis joins Moore as a national qualifier in the 60 meter dash with a season-high time in the event at 6.79 seconds coming from the SAC Championships. The time put the senior tied for No. 15 in the nation.

Showler-Davis and Moore will compete in a field of 17 athletes in the 60 yard dash.

"I've put a few good weeks of training in coming off the SAC Championships," Showler-Davis stated. "Hopefully I'm ready to go on the day. Just need to execute and run my own race, not worrying about everyone else around me."

Tanner Stepp marks the final athlete to earn a national qualifier for the Eagles. Stepp will compete in the high jump for the seventh-consecutive semester. He has went to indoor and outdoor nationals every year at Carson-Newman.

The senior out of Jefferson City, Tenn. collected the top-spot in the conference championships eventually clearing a height of 2.10 meters.

His season high came at the Buccaneer Invitational clearing 2.12 meters, which sits him tied for sixth in the nation. Stepp has collected first-place finishes in all four meets in which he has competed in this indoor season. A total of 16 athletes will compete in the event.

"Nothing is really different from years past, just going in being fresh and ready to go," Stepp explained. C-N assistant Track & Field coach is his brother Tyler Stepp, which has helped Tanner in his time at Mossy Creek.

"The fact that he knows me so well gives me an advantage for training and it's paid off so far," Stepp said. "There's some challenges too for sure as he holds me at such a high standard."

The full meet schedule for Friday and Saturday is available here.

-CN-